One sport that many people seem to not understand how it can be fun is pickleball. It has a weird name, and many people look at it as just tennis. However, pickleball is so much fun if you just try and pick it up.  

Pickleball is a sport that has taken America by storm in the last few years, growing more popular than ever since the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“America just needed something to do after coming out of covid and it kind of blew it out of that,” said sophomore Elijah Kubicek. “Then it’s kind of like a snowball effect that my friends are doing it so, I got to do it too. I think it’s super accessible for a lot of people who may not even consider themselves athletes.”

The sport doesn’t require a lot of running–unlike tennis, Kubicek said, and it is very group oriented.

Kubicek plays pickleball with the pickleball club at Eastern. 

Pickleball has grown everywhere, not just at Eastern. With the sport being so easy to pick up, many people tried to pick it up after COVID-19. I did not even hear about the sport until after COVID-19 when my high school gym teacher showed it to me. That seems to be another reason why so many people have found pickleball. 

“Playing it during gym in high school, I’d never heard of it before but loved it when I was introduced to it,” sophomore sociology major Jazie Lawler said. 

All that people need is the chance to play it. After playing it, people realize how fun it can be. People might think that pickleball is just a different type of tennis, but it is so much more. 

“It is a very strategic sport when you get further into it because it’s a very small court, and there’s a lot of people on that court,” Kubicek said. “So, you’ve got four people on a court half the size of a tennis court or maybe less. So, it’s really more about ball placement and accuracy.” 

Pickleball is very strategic. Tennis can be as well, but when the court is so much smaller, there is a lot more thought into each shot, as one shot can ruin the entire point. 

Even with how strategic it could be, it’s still easy for beginners to get right into the game and have fun. 

“I love pickleball so much because it’s as challenging as the players make it,” senior pickleball club president Brady Stone said. “For someone who is just starting, the games are slow-paced and leisurely while people who have played longer experience faster-paced, intense games.” 

Pickleball might seem weird and intense, but if you just pick up the sport you will see that it is a lot of fun and can be so much more than you think it is. 

Patrick Schmitz can be reached at 581-2812 or at densportsdesk@gmail.com.